


The longest distance between two places

by megyal



Category: Tiger & Bunny
Genre: Fluff, Humor, M/M, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-22
Updated: 2011-12-22
Packaged: 2017-10-27 19:25:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/299223
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/megyal/pseuds/megyal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A powerful but traumatized NEXT shifts Tiger into an alternate fold in space for thirty seconds. 'Thirty seconds' for Tiger turns out to be quite some time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The longest distance between two places

**Author's Note:**

  * For [winnett](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=winnett).



> xposted:LJ/DW/AO3
> 
> Written for Nessa ([ **winnett**](http://winnett.livejournal.com/)), for the VM fic exchange! It's really just an exchange between myself and Nessa; I didn't get into the lottery for HD Holidays, and when I was telling her, she said, "Let's do an exchange together!" I was like, "OKAYYES." I basically inhaled all the episodes of Tiger & Bunny because she likes it (and told me to watch it!), and I became a fan in a matter of moments. The prompt I chose was: _After a long period of absence, two characters are thrown together once again._ The title is from this quote: _Time is the longest distance between two places. ~Tennessee Williams_. This is my first T &B fic! *HOLDS*

_Sternbild City, c. NC 1979  
3:25 pm_

"Bunny," Kotetsu said, lounging luxuriously in the sidecar and yawning. He wrinkled his nose; he'd had a lot of garlic for lunch, and the suit's air-return system didn't pull out the smell of his well-seasoned breath fast enough. He was going to have to talk to Saito about that one. "Hey, Bunny. Hey. Oi. _Lil Bunneee_ \--"

" _What_?" Barnaby turned his head slightly, but didn't look away from his perusal of the river. He was leaning against the guardrail of the bridge, one foot propped up on the lowest rung. Tiger grinned; Bunny sounded annoyed, but that was probably to someone who didn't listen properly. "What is it?"

"I was just wondering what's for dinner." Kotetsu laughed at the incredulous huff which emanated from his earpiece and felt strangely content when finally, _finally_ , Barnaby's full attention was focused on him. Barnaby went as far as to raise his face-plate to dispatch a long, withering stare.

"We _just_ had a late lunch, Kotetsu."

"It's not my fault I have a fast metabolism!" Kotetsu took on a tone of sheer petulance, and grinned when Barnaby shook his head, actually chuckling. A true smile from Barnaby wasn't such a rare commodity these days. There were still moments in which he would descend into a dark brooding so intense that it would drive nearly everyone away, until Kotetsu did something incredible or amusing or stupid (or all at the same time, he was _talented_ like that). Barnaby would stare at him with that clear gaze and then, more often than not, he would grin. If it was a _Not_ day and not a _More Often_ day, Kotetsu would resort to his own brand of silence, but it wasn't full of thunderheads like Barnaby's.

Eventually, Barnaby would say something like, "Well, don't we have some crime to fight?" or "It's very creepy when you stare, Kotetsu," and it would be okay again. Well, not okay- _okay_ , but okay enough, and Kotetsu could live with that.

As long as Barnaby smiled. Funny, he used to hate Barnaby's smug grin, the one he used when he was in interviews or on the Hero stage going through rankings. Barnaby had another smile, though: softer, easier. Sweeter. Kotetsu shook himself now, blinking a little at that last thought. _Sweeter?_

"Are you alright?" Barnaby perched a hand on his hip, head tilted like a curious baby bird. Kotetsu thought of his well-shaped curls, how they looked like cute little feathers at times, and stifled an unmanly giggle. Barnaby rolled his eyes. "What am I asking, of _course_ you're not alright."

"Where are we going for dinner, Bunny?" Kotetsu demanded, lacing his fingers together and stretching his arms up and over his head. "I don't want any pasta today. I think I want some--"

"Fried rice?"

" _No_." Kotetsu mock-glared up at his partner, whose lips were pressed together in an amused line. "I'm in the mood for curry."

"We could have dinner at the Bel Tamarind." Barnaby sounded overly formal. As a matter of fact, there was a slight tinge of hesitation to his tone, which was weird, because they ate together all the time. "Unless you're eating with Kaede tonight."

"Nah." Kotetsu felt it was fairly acceptable for a grown man to sulk, so he did. "She said she had to _study_ for mid-semester tests at the Academy. Study, ha! She _never_ wants to spend any time with her good old Papa!"

"Your melodrama is quite interesting to experience at this close range," Barnaby observed, tone dry. "But I'll treat you at the Tamarind. If you like."

Kotetsu whooped. "That sounds more like it! We can make it a real date," he teased. "I'll put on my special hat for you, Bunny."

Instead of rolling his eyes again, or insulting Kotetsu in a fond way, an odd thing happened: a faint blush tinged Barnaby's cheeks and he glanced down at his own feet. The atmosphere, although caught in the throes of a lovely spring evening, seemed to pull close around and between them. Kotetsu cleared his throat, tried to say something and failed to find anything sensible.

"If you're going to put on your special hat, then I'll change my jacket for our real date." Barnaby was teasing; of course he was, Kotetsu told himself distantly. Besides, Kotetsu hadn't been on a real date in _years_ ; about five years after Tomoe had died, he'd allowed Antonio to press him into an evening with one of his cousins, a dark-eyed beauty named Rosalee. She had been really nice, but Kotetsu had stumbled over himself the entire evening.

"You should be less yourself and someone cooler," Antonio had berated him the day after, when cousin Rosalee had apparently declared him 'cute, but inept'.

But wait, _wait_ , he wasn't seriously thinking of this as a Real Date, was he? Though, to be honest, if one was going to be technical about these things, he'd been on _lots_ of dates with Barnaby. If they weren't dining with the other Heroes, they were eating with each other, or at each other's homes. Or going to the park. Or taking down criminals together, those could be dates too. In terms of sitting-down-and-eating, though, Barnaby didn't really have a kitchen, but he did his best, somehow. And since Kotetsu had moved out of his old place in exchange for somewhere with another room for Kaede when she wanted to get away from the dorms at the Academy, he had a bigger kitchen to try out other recipes than fried rice.

Apparently, growing girls disliked eating fried rice all the time.

Kotetsu took a deep breath and then tapped the side of his helmet, lifting the face-plate. "It's a date then, Barnaby." Hey, he didn't know he could sound so sexy. Barnaby's gaze locked with his, fair eyebrows lifted in either surprise or sheer amusement. His lips twitched and yeah, he was going to laugh.

"You're ridiculous," he said through quiet chuckles.

"You like it," Kotetsu shot back, hardly able to speak properly because he was grinning so hard. Barnaby's laughter petered out, but he still had the demeanour of one who was thoroughly entertained.

"I _do_ like it, actually," Barnaby said, very quietly, and the inside of Kotetsu's suit felt very warm all of a sudden.

Before he could even think of some reply that would come across as sultry and not dorky, there was a small chime which indicated that Hero TV had just activated the communications network which linked all the heroes. Kotetsu watched how Barnaby's shoulders shifted backward almost imperceptibly, body tensing in preparation, before he swung his leg over his bike and started it, revving the engine. The engine rumbled, and they shot off across the bridge as Agnes said, " _Bonjour_ , Heroes."

"Where are we headed, Agnes?" Kotetsu slammed down his visor.

"We have a NEXT threatening the Justice Tower," Agnes said and excitement bloomed in her voice. "All Heroes to that location!"

"Best if you take the off-ramp at Fifth down to Silver, swing over to Legend Avenue onto Bronze," Kotetsu advised.

"Why not take Victory down onto Old High Point?" Barnaby swerved through traffic, leaning their joined vehicles from one side to another with ease.

"Trust me, Bunny, Victory is jammed this time of day. Ben drives a taxi! He tells me these things!"

"Tiger, Victory is _not_ \--"

"Could you two sound less like an old married couple," Agnes snapped, "and get your asses over there quickly?"

"Thanks so much, Agnes," Karina put in. "I was about to throw up in my mouth a little."

"I think they're cute!" Nathan was as bubbly as usual. "Adorable!"

"Whatever," Karina mumbled. Kotetsu was triumphant as Barnaby did indeed take Fifth to Silver, and it was perfectly clear as they went down to Bronze, since they were going against the traffic.

"Don't say _I told you so_ ," Barnaby warned him as they pulled up in front of the Justice Tower. "Or I will kick you."

Kotetsu nodded, miming zipping his lips and throwing away the key. He looked around the massive plaza in front of the Tower, obviously cleared of civilians by the police force. The other Heroes were scattered around the plaza, looking around aimlessly; Sky High was zipping from side to side above their heads.

Kotetsu began to say, "Hey, where's the--", when a tall column of light split the air in the middle of the plaza and a girl in tattered clothing dashed out of it. She looked so much like Kaede that Kotetsu felt something twist sharply in his chest, and the wild, panicked expression in her face wasn't helping matters at all.

"No! No! No!" she shrieked, high and drilling. Kotetsu ran towards her, flipping up his face-plate. She gave him a look of sheer terror and raised her hands; her brown eyes went blue and that shaft of light blazed around her.

"It's okay! We're Heroes, we're going to help you!" Kotetsu stopped abruptly and went down on one knee as if he was going to propose; he found that kids responded better when adults weren't looming over them.

"No! Don't hurt me, please!" Her shrieks descended into incoherence and she shot up about thirty feet in the air, the light pulsing around her. Sky High barrelled towards her and then overshot his target; she had simply disappeared, light and all.

Kotetsu muttered, "What the--"

The light stuttered back to existence at the other end of the plaza. From here, Kotetsu could hear her agonized screams. It broke his heart and when he snapped around, she seemed to be flailing amongst the slivers of heavy beams.

"I'll be good! I'll be good!" she was shouting. "Don't make it hurt anymore!"

"Shit." Kotetsu activated his Hundred Power, his face-plate snapping into place. Without looking he knew that Barnaby was glowing with his own Hundred Power as well. He was at the column of light within between one breath and the next, leaping in the air and snatching at the girl. Oddly, the light seemed... _solid_. He could stand in it, and it felt as if he was knee-deep in mud. It refused to let her go.

The girl struggled, weakly."Don't hurt me!"

"We'll help you, sweetie," Kotetsu murmured, soothingly. He brushed at her sweaty forehead, the same way he did when Kaede had a fever as a little kid. "It won't hurt anymore. Promise." He hugged her tightly and _pulled_ , grinding his teeth together as that light tried to drag her back.

"Yes!" he yelled as she suddenly snapped free and he threw her in the air over his head. He twisted around, watching as Barnaby caught her and landed with a neat grace that Kotetsu couldn't even hope to mimic. In his helmet, he could hear feedback from the studio, the announcer crowing that Tiger and Barnaby had once again saved the day.

He tried to wriggle out of this weird pillar of light, and to his dismay he just slid further in.

"Tiger!" Barnaby shouted up at him. "What are you doing? Get out of there!"

"I'm trying, I'm trying!" He fought against the inexorable sinking, trying to get a foothold on something inside the light, but there was nothing. Nothing at all. "Barnaby!"

Barnaby set the girl down on the ground. She had fainted, apparently, and lay limp on the concrete pavers. Tiger was sucked in with neck-jerking speed, and the last thing he saw before a quiet darkness settled over his head, was Barnaby reaching for him.

+

  
_It's dark in here. Wherever here is. There's...nothing. At least he can breathe. The lights of his suit throw out soft arcs of green light, but there is nothing to illuminate. He turns around, looking for clues as to where he might be, or where Bunny might be, or the girl, but he's all alone. He should be more afraid, but he's Wild Tiger and wild tigers are afraid of NOTHING. Well. A few things, but not the dark. And especially nothing. He thought that already._

_It's so dark that he can feel it pressing in on him. It is all without form, and yet...he thinks he can hear voices. Far away. Whispers stack up in the darkness like a soft tower of pillows. He strains to listen, turning his head._

__He wasn't only a dedicated hero, _one voice says, small but clear,_ but he was also the best man I have ever known. He was _my_ hero as well.

_That's me they're talking about,_ he thinks with an absent smugness. _Definitely me. Probably._

_Could be Bunny, too. Bunny's a good hero. Good man. Yeah. He's probably trying to get me outta here, cause that's how Lil' Bunny is._

_Barnaby. He's great._

_He feels warm and tingly at the thought of Barnaby: that direct pale-green gaze, the haughty curl of lip when he thought he was completely right, the fussy flip of blond hair. He hadn't known that having a partner would be so enjoyable._

_The warm, tingly sensation intensifies, and a pinprick of light appears to his left, as if summoned by the admittedly intense feelings he is experiencing. The light is either very small or very far away, but it cycles through all the colours of the rainbow as it grows larger, or gets closer. It is beautiful, like a star. He reaches out and flinches as the light pulses around him, warm and living and he is pulled through._

+

Kotetsu dropped from about thirty feet in the air, landing on unforgiving concrete with an aggrieved grunt. He lay still for a moment, waiting to see if any of his bones would send up a letter of complaint to his brain and then rolled over, groaning. Great, he was still in the plaza of the Justice Tower. He got to his feet, put his hands at the small of his back and arched back in a well-deserved stretch.

"Yeah!" After an obligatory fist-pump, he turned and strolled towards the Justice Tower, vaguely noting that it looked...different, somehow. Like, more of it? Kotetsu wasn't sure. And where had the other Heroes gone, anyway? Where were Barnaby and that frightened little kid? More than likely they'd gone inside to hand over the girl to NEXT therapists and make their reports. Kotetsu really hoped that Barnaby had written up his as well. Kotetsu _hated_ filling in those report-sheets, the writing spaces were always too small.

He trotted up the flight of stairs to the main lobby, and waved merrily at a security guard. The guard eyed him with an odd mixture of amused exasperation.

"Not another one," the guard said, but he had a smile on his face. "Look, we've had enough Tigers for one day. Go home."

"Oh man, not again!" Kotetsu stopped short, pursed his lips and then sighed. "Did a mind-NEXT get to everybody again? Look, I can prove I'm Tiger, it's easy! Get Barnaby! I can break the mindthingy super easy with him, just you wait."

"I understand," the guard said soothingly. "But it's almost time for the Tower to close, so go home."

Tiger opened his mouth to argue some more, and then gaped as a group of individuals dressed in metallic armour or bright, tight-fitting clothing with product-banners on the shoulders and chest-plants went trudging past him. He knew none of these people.

"Hey!" He blinked as these persons waved their wrists at the scanners and were allowed through the striped barriers. "Hey, who the hell are _they_?!"

"Heroes," the guard said, frowning at Kotetsu. "Obviously. Don't you watch TV?"

Kotetsu said, "No no no, those guys are _not_ Heroes--" and then cut off when a man who looked _just like_ Barnaby emerged from one of the elevators. This man looked older than Barnaby, though. The blond hair was longer, past his shoulders with less of a pretentious curl. He seemed to carry a bit more muscle than Barnaby's slender frame. However, the eyes behind the clear lens of glasses were exactly the same shade of pale-green that Kotetsu had been admiring for some time now (and was just coming to terms with that fact). They displayed far more sadness than Kotetsu had ever seen. Barnaby was pretty sad, _yeah_ , but he held it away from the public eye; he never let most people close enough to see what he might be going through.

A young woman dashed out after this Barnaby-ish person, clutching a purple training-bag. Her long brown hair streamed out behind her as she ran and Kotetsu felt something lurch in his chest.

She looked so much like Tomoe.

"Not another one," the Barnaby-lookalike said in a low voice as he got near the security barriers. "This one is very good, though. Your suit is very detailed."

"Detailed?" Kotetsu squawked, shaking his fist. "This is the REAL DEAL, the real Wild Tiger!" He raised his face-plate and squinted from behind his domino-mask. "Hey, are you related to Barnaby?" he asked.

The Barnaby-lookalike's face went ashen as soon as he saw Kotetsu's face, his eyes wide. He took a step forward and then stopped as the young woman threw a slender arm across his chest.

"Careful, Barnaby," the woman said, even though she appeared shell-shocked as well. "He...he could be a NEXT. Get Origami." Without waiting for anyone to execute her request, she did it herself, raising a slender wrist to activate her communicator.

"Why would you need Origami?" Kotetsu wondered aloud, but he was only concentrating on that particular issue with one part of his mind. She had called the other man _Barnaby_. "Bunny? Is that you?"

The blond man flinched back as if someone had tried to strike him. His eyes were very wide, and appeared suspiciously damp. " _No one_ calls me Bunny."

"Except _me_ ," Kotetsu said as confidently as he could, even though he could feel waves of shock rippling through his chest. _This_ man was Barnaby. "It's 'cause you hop around, all busy and kick-ey, and--ooof!"

"It can't be," the woman breathed but this Barnaby had already rushed at Kotetsu and hugged him, tightly.

"Ten years," Barnaby muttered and the flutter of his breath over Kotetsu's cheek was comforting and thrilling at the same time. "Ten years, Kotetsu."

"Whaa--? Ten years, _what_?" Kotetsu's arms flailed about, in conjunction with the flailing of his brain. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Dad? Daddy?" The young woman whispered, one hand held between her breasts in a clenched fist. Kotetsu's flailing went into over-drive, because that was _Kaede_ and oh shit, _Kaede had breasts_.

+

Ivan's NEXT-bright gaze scanned Kotetsu once, twice and then once again. Very slowly. Kotetsu, lying in a cot, was very disgruntled at yet another test after a day of blood being drawn and brain being scanned, suit taken away to be inspected by Saito. He withstood Ivan's scrutiny with ill-grace for a moment, before sighing in resignation and studying the changes in the other Hero.

Ivan was just a little taller, but now there was an awful scar that started at the corner of his mouth and travelled in a jagged line to just beneath his left ear. Kotetsu couldn't stop staring at it. Ivan, who had had a shy, delicate kind of beauty that Kotetsu had always appreciated, now had a confidence about him that was almost chilling. Even the civilian clothing he wore was different: a dark, well-tailored suit that was a far cry from the baggy clothing Kotetsu was used to seeing, and a charcoal fedora he had removed when he'd first entered the medical bay.

Ivan blinked, and then leaned back in his chair, just staring at Kotetsu for a long time with normal eyes. Behind him, Barnaby leaned against the wall. Kaede stood beside him, her own eyes wide and bright.

"Well?" Kotetsu demanded, fighting the urge to squirm under the weight of their collective gazes. "You're convinced I'm me now, right?!"

"Any NEXT with decent shapeshifting or copying abilities can mimic brainwaves, bloodtype and even abilities," Ivan said, voice low. The injured side of his mouth did not move as he spoke. "I can't do all of those."

"But he can tell who can," Barnaby said. "That's why we called him in."

"Really?" Kotetsu grinned. "That's great, Origami, your abilities have matured! Just like you."

Ivan, who rarely smiled when Kotetsu had last seen him, and who seemed to smile even less now, leaned back in his chair and favoured Kotetsu with a frosty twitch of his lips. His gaze, however, seemed warm.

"It's you," Ivan said. "No one else can be that perky, really."

"Right!" Kotetsu nodded, pleased and then frowned a little. That might have been an insult.

"Daddy," Kaede said, and practically dashed over to him, giving him yet another tight hug. She hugged him after every test came out with a positive confirmation. "Oh, Daddy, I'm so glad." He didn't realize she was crying this time until he felt dampness at the collar of the HERO-issue t-shirt he was wearing. Kotetsu sat up, reaching around to hug her very tightly. His baby, all grown up.

_With breasts_.

He held her away after a moment, grinning. "So, you're a Hero, huh?" He didn't know how much prouder he could be, or how much he disapproved. He was going to have words with Barnaby, later. Lots of words. Dangerous ones! Maybe at high decibels! He didn't want his baby-girl out there, exposed to danger. Never mind that she'd been a Hero for about three years now.

"Barnaby's partner now," Kaede said, her own smile just as wide. Kotetsu blinked at her, very rapidly. Barnaby's partner. Huh. "They used to call me Young Tigress." She wrinkled her nose, something that Tomoe used to do when she was amused at herself. "Now I'm the RepliCat."

"RepliCat?" Kotetsu chuckled. "Why not, uh, Copycat. Or Mimic!"

"Too cliched. Still, we wanted to honour the feline aspect of her heritage." Barnaby kept staring at Kotetsu as he spoke, as if Kotetsu would disappear if he shifted his gaze away. He _did_ disappear, Kotetsu remembered, flicked away from Barnaby's reach. Barnaby had been stretching for him, eyes wide with panic.

"What...happened to her?" Kotetsu asked, looking down at his hand, skin brown against the white sheet. "The girl with the time-powers. The one who...she--"

"Her name is Lana O'Gilvie," Kaede said, a little furrow between her dark brows. "She didn't mean it, Daddy. She was just really scared and she got hurt badly. At her home."

Kotetsu clenched his fist. That didn't sound good, she was only a kid. Or...she was probably all grown up by now. "She got arrested?"

Barnaby shook his head. "Lana was under a lot of mental trauma. And some physical ones, too." His gaze was very heavy as it rested on Kotetsu. "She couldn't control her abilities."

"Yeah, they were crazypowers!" Kaede gave a dramatic shudder. "I tried to duplicate them to bring you back and..." she trailed off, eyebrows arched at Kotetsu's thunderous frown. "Right. Didn't work. Anyway, she kept asking for the pain to go away. She's in voluntary stasis."

Voluntary stasis? Whatever the hell _that_ was. "Can I see her?" Kotetsu asked. Barnaby's sudden smile was wide, and Kotetsu smiled back. "Just to tell her I forgive her. That I'm okay."

"You can visit her," Ivan said. Kotetsu started, he'd forgotten Ivan had still been in the room. Ivan's expression was darkly amused. "But don't you have a welcome-back party to go to?"

+

"This isn't funny," Muramasa said, voice very flat. "You're supposed to be dead, Kotetsu. Or maybe you're a shapeshifting NEXT--"

"I'm not!" Kotetsu couldn't help whining a little. He was sitting down on a low bed in the guest-room of the house he had bought for himself and Kaede all these years ( _moments_ ) ago. The whole house was small and very neatly kept, and Kotetsu was amazed at how much _lived-in_ it appeared. When he had his own apartment, it had looked like a temporary bomb shelter."I'm alive, I swear. It's me. Honest!"

Muramasa's quelling expression did not change much, apart from the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes losing some of the tension.

"We had a memorial for you," he said. "A lot of people came."

Kotetsu nodded, smiling at the tiny image of his older brother on Barnaby's communicator. "I heard it was really nice. Thanks for doing that for me."

"I just think it's really kind of rude for you to just come back to life like that. We spent a lot money giving you a good send-off."

"Well, I'm _sorry_ about that," Kotetsu said and pouted.

"Talk to Mother," Muramasa said, but the corner of his mouth was twitching. "It's good to see you, even though you're supposed to be dead."

"Kotesu?" Anju was on the phone before Kotetsu could come up with a retort for Marumasa. "Oh, Kotetsu," she said and began to cry.

"Hey, hey." Kotetsu rubbed the back of his head. "Uh. There, there, don't cry."

"I'm so happy to see you!" she wailed, and the image shook. Kotetsu didn't know whether to look happy or look upset that she was crying so hard. He tried to settle on somewhere in the middle. It felt like a bad idea to his face, really.

His mother stopped crying abruptly and peered at Kotetsu, tears streaming down her cheeks. "You look so skinny. Is Barnaby there?"

"I am," Barnaby said from the door.

Kotetsu turned his head; his complaints at being startled and Bunny's freaky silence melted in his throat as he stared at Barnaby, who had apparently materialized out of nowhere to lean against the jamb of the door. He pushed off from and walked over; Kotetsu watched him approach with a dry mouth. As a younger man, Barnaby had been handsome, at least in Kotetsu's opinion. Ten years had simply taken that attractiveness and honed it into something that was quite devastating. Kotetsu stared up at him as he stood close; something warm twisted in his gut.

"Yes, Mrs. Kaburagi?" Barnaby finally said, gazing down into Kotetsu's face intently.

"You make sure he eats something," Anju said and frowned. "Not just fried rice."

"But fried rice is good," Kotetsu managed to say, tearing his gaze away from Barnaby's. "And easy."

" _Not just fried rice_ ," Anju insisted, and smiled when Kotetsu focused on her once more. "Look at you. Oh, Kotetsu," she said, and she was crying even as she hung up.

Kotetsu handed the communicator over to Barnaby, who slid the slim band back over his wrist. He got to his feet, realizing belatedly how close they both were, and neither seemed inclined to step back. He smiled, and Barnaby smiled back.

Kotetsu would have been willing to stand there and just grin at Barnaby all evening, but the other man pressed something in his palm.

"It's a communicator, linked to me and Kaede," Barnaby explained as Kotetsu inspected the slender wristlet. "Not on the complete Hero network as yet, but that can be fixed soon. After all, I can technically say that Wild Tiger is back in business."

"From the way I see it, I never left." Kotetsu slipped it on, feeling it adjust to the circumference of his wrist. "Now, what's this about a party?"

+

"Tiger!" Nathan's warble was almost ear-splitting, and he glomped Kotetsu with all his might, which was a considerable amount of might indeed.

"Owowowow," Kotetsu griped. Nathan held him at arm's length.

"Oh Tiger," he said, and his eyes were watery. "We thought you were dead."

"Nope, alive!" Kotetsu grinned as Nathan cuddled him close once more, even going so far as pecking him on the cheek before completely releasing him. Some of the small crowd gathered around him, made mostly of the newer NEXT heroes, media personnel and representatives from the sponsor companies. A large banner hung over the entrance to the massive, open-air atrium located at the ground floor of Apollon Media: WELCOME BACK WILD TIGER it exclaimed in tall green and silver letters. Most of the heroes were dressed in their party-gear, which consisted of their masks or helmets paired with evening-wear. Kotetsu grinned internally: some things just never changed.

Beside him, Kaede was resplendent in a long emerald gown, her black domino-mask poised delicately on her face. Her long brown hair was tucked into a chic hairstyle, the name of which Kotetsu had no idea. As soon as she spotted Ivan, who stood in the shadows to the side, watching the crowd dispassionately, she patted Kotetsu on the arm, then reached out and touched someone else. Then, she simply melted into the floor, reappearing beside Ivan with a wide grin.

"Ugh," the NEXT individual she'd touched said in a loud, complaining tone. "I hate when she does that!"

"Tiger!" Antonio boomed from a distance. He shoved his way through about five feet of well-wishers and stood in front of Kotetsu, arms akimbo. "You crazy kitty. You haven't changed one bit."

"You mad cow," Kotetsu retorted, and they exchanged rough hugs. "Where's your helmet?" he asked as they released each other. Antonio's brown hair was much shorter than usual, and shot through with strands of grey. Antonio smiled.

"Not a Hero any more, my friend." He nodded sagely at Kotetsu's expression of shock. "Few of our set are, now, except for your Barnaby and your kid."

"Sky High?" Kotetsu questioned. "Blue Rose?"

"Married!" Antonio led him over to the table that was practically groaning under the weight of so much food. "To each other, can you imagine? They're in Santa Nopalera now. You know, Blue Rose has to live nearer to the movie studios."

"...movies?" Kotetsu shook his head. "Wow. She's gone big, just like I knew she would."

"Mmm-hmm. And Sky High's just happy to be at home with their two kids." Antonio shoved a plate into his hands. "When you disappeared, she'd been devastated, Tiger. We all were."

"Oh." Kotetsu stared at the plate filled with sweets. Blue Rose and Sky High had children! That was...wonderful, but he felt suddenly left-out. The world had kept moving on without him, and while it was an inevitable fact, it felt slightly bitter in the back of his throat.

"And Dragon Kid? She went back to her home-town. Opened up a martial arts training center. She called me this morning all excited, asked to talk to you."

"I'll call her soon," Kotetsu promised and raised his head with a strained smile on his lips. A man who was standing on the opposite side of the table was staring at him fixedly. He was tall and slender, with dark, curly hair and light-grey eyes. When their gazes met, he offered Kotetsu a slow inclination of his head. Kotetsu blinked, and offered a nod in return.

"Oh, be right back, gonna talk some business with Nathan," Antonio said and strode off. Kotetsu shook his head. The more things remained the same, the more they changed, he supposed. Ten years ago, Antonio would flee the room like a thief anytime Nathan appeared. Now, they were talking _business_.

"Wild Tiger."

Startled, Kotetsu spun around abruptly, some of the food almost hurled from the safety of the plate. The man who had nodded at him now stood very close by, one side of his lips quirked slightly. He had one hand held out to Kotetsu, having obviously just removed it from the pocket of his well-made jacket.

"I'm Jesse Alma de Hierro," this man offered.

"Oh!" Kotetsu wiped his palms inelegantly against the trousers Barnaby had loaned him, and shook this Jesse's hand. Most of his clothes had been given away by a mourning Kaede after about five years of his absence, but Barnaby's current wardrobe wasn't a bad fit. At least she had kept the hats."Hello."

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Wild Tiger," Jesse said, holding on to Kotetsu's hand for a beat too long before releasing him. "I've heard a lot about you from Brooks over there."

"Brooks? Oh, you mean _Barnaby_." Kotetsu turned, spotting Barnaby at nearly the opposite end of the room. He was in deep conversation with one of the executives from the sponsor company. The executive was pouting at Barnaby like a very large spoilt child, and Barnaby's expression was one that Kotetsu knew very well: a determination so ruthless, it was creepy.

"He's telling the executives to return you to active Hero status without going through the Justice Bureau all over again," Jesse murmured. "They really didn't think that a hero proclaimed dead would ever make a comeback."

"Well, _I_ did," Kotetsu said, trying not to grumble too much. "And even if they _don't_ take me on back, I don't care." Actually, he sort of did. To be removed from active status was quite understandable, actually, but still quite a blow. But, damn it all, he'd been a NEXT before getting sponsored, and he'd be a NEXT _long_ after. "I'll help people, with or without the corporate backing. That's what heroes do!"

Jesse laughed, quietly, and Kotetsu blinked at him, not knowing if he should be offended or not. At the way Jesse's eyes twinkled at him, he decided to take the _not_ route, smiling tentatively.

"I see now what Barnaby saw in you," Jesse finally said, taking a plate and placing fruit in it. "You're quite a character, Kotetsu."

"Hey, you're not supposed to know my real name," Kotetsu told him, even though he was grinning, a little. "I guess you're a hero too, huh?"

Jesse nodded, nibbling a few grapes.

"You're like Barnaby, then," Kotetsu said, and wagged one finger at the other man. "You're not supposed to show your face, either! It's part of the romance of being a hero. You help people without expecting them to know who you are."

"Brooks was right: you're completely ridiculous," Jesse told him. This was something Kotetsu had heard from Barnaby all the time, so he waved it off with great nonchalance. "I like that. Brooks and I have one more thing in common, at least."

"He spoke of me?" Kotetsu asked, trying to sound careless about it and failing abysmally. "When I wasn't around, I mean."

Jesse grinned outright. He had a great smile, Kotetsu thought, warm and a little mischievous.

"Oh yes," he said. "He even talked _in his sleep_."

"Huh," Kotetsu said, but the reality didn't hit him until about six seconds after: "Oh. _Ohhhh_ ," and then he felt slightly imbalanced, and a little hot under the collar. Barnaby and...this Jesse. He swallowed hard and began to croak out, "Well. Hey, what about--"

"BONJOUR HEROES," boomed a voice so snidely familiar that Kotetsu's eyes almost filled with nostalgic tears. At the same time, a circular band of projected light flickered into existence right over their heads, spinning with great intent. The words _Boom Brothers escaping through Silver Stage_ were formed in the light.

"CAPTAINS, ASSEMBLE YOUR TEAMS," Agnes commanded. "WE ARE LIVE IN THREE MINUTES."

There was a breathless hush for about two seconds, and more than half the crowd began to dash away, fleeing through the tall exit arches, or flying up through the atrium using their NEXT powers or fiery boosters. The execs from the sponsor companies watched them go with calculating expressions, while Kotetsu murmured, "Teams?"

Jesse wasn't beside him anymore. Instead, Kotetsu spotted him standing near Barnaby and Kaede. Kotetsu nearly had a heart-attack when he realized that Kaede was stripping off her fancy dress without an _inch of shame, what would her mother think?!_

He dashed over, yelling, "Oi! Oi, Kaede! OI! Stop that!" but he only got close in time to see her in her Hero costume: a short black jumpsuit with green stripes, snugly fitted with sleeves that ended in the middle of her arms, and a thick belt. Kotetsu had the idea that it was quite fashionable, and just so very _Kaede_ , but he really didn't think it was practical to show so much leg between the hem of the shorts and the top of her low-heeled black boots.

"Dad, relax," Kaede said when he tried to explain his many reservations, squinting threateningly at him. "Seriously."

Barnaby's suit was rapidly building itself around his body; it had apparently been folded into a slender pack strapped to his back, underneath his jacket. This suit had the same pink-and-red colour combination, but it was a bit bulkier than what Kotetsu was used to.

"Ironsoul," Barnaby commanded in a low voice before his mask snapped around his face, "you take rear-guard in the Traverser, RepliCat and I'll be on point with the bikes."

"No problem, Captain," Jesse acknowledged in a jovial manner; Kotetsu, who really should have been used to these things by now, gave a little start when he focused in Jesse's direction: all that warm skin was now covered in a chilly metallic layer the same shade as his eyes.

"That's pretty cool," Kotetsu said, grinning like some delighted fan, and Jesse grinned back.

"Kotetsu, just...stay put," Barnaby told him, and the eyes of his helmet flashed blue when Kotetsu's complaints cascaded out in a verbal waterfall. "Please, I haven't been able to convince the execs, but they'll come around soon. Don't get in the way. At least, not yet."

"But, but--"

"Dad, we can handle this," RepliCat said, and _when_ had her tone gotten so stern, so crisp? This was truly a Hero talking to him. Kotetsu felt a staggering sense of pride, but it was undermined by this... _unnecessary_ feeling. Two unmanned motorbikes, large and sleek and creepily silent, manoeuvred their way into the atrium and stopped beside Barnaby and RepliCat. The two Heroes leapt upon their gleaming steeds, and were gone.

"Hers isn't even attached," Kotetsu said in a low grumble as he watched the red flare of their tail-lights descend the wide stairs outside the tall entry-doors, and flash out in front of halted traffic. "I mean, when I rode with him, I had to be in a sidecar, that's not fair."

Jesse said, "I suppose it wasn't," before ambling over to a low wall at the opposite end to the main entry, behind which was a secondary staircase which led down to the underground parking area. "You heard the captain, you should stay put, don't piss off the execs just yet," he continued, not unkindly, when Kotetsu tried to sneak after him. "You haven't even gotten a new version of your suit."

"Maybe," a papery voice whispered from somewhere near the vicinity of Kotetsu's left hip, "I can help with that."

+

When Saito handed Kotetsu a twin of Barnaby's armour-pack, Kotetsu actually picked up the diminutive genius and twirled him in a giddy circle.

"Ow, ow!" he hollered as Saito whacked him in the head with a digital pad. He put down Saito with a grimace. "Damn it!"

Saito whispered something and Kotetsu bawled out, "It's been ten years, you could have invented a better voice-box for your throat!" before hunkering down and placing one ear near Saito's lips. He reeled back when Saito's enhanced voice boomed, "I _DID_ INVENT ONE."

"That's not funny." Kotetsu rubbed at his ringing ear as Saito snickered loudly. "Not funny at all."

"IT IS. I WAS SAYING I WAS WORKING ON YOUR NEW BIKE BUT IT ISN'T FINISHED. IN THE MEAN-TIME, TRAVEL IN THE TRAVERSER WITH IRONSOUL. IT'S A NICE VEHICLE, REALLY NICE. I SHOULD KNOW, I MADE IT."

Jesse, who had been hesitating by the wall, now shook his silvery curls. "No. No way. I really don't need Brooks on my case about _litigation_ and....wow, those _are_ effective."

Kotetsu had turned large, pleading eyes in Jesse's direction. He found that they had worked on Barnaby in the latter stages of their partnership, particularly if Kotetsu had wanted the last of Barnaby's noodles or something.

"You don't have active status, Tiger," Jesse said, obviously wavering.

Kotetsu said, very quietly, "Active or not, I want to help people. That's what being a Hero is all about. It's all I am. I don't have a partner anymore, but that's okay. It's either I go out there with you, or by myself."

He was very serious and heartfelt, and then completely spoilt the grave atmosphere by whooping in delight when Jesse sighed in defeat.

"Brooks is going to kill me," he said as Kotetsu clattered down the stairs, slinging the armour-pack over his shoulders.

+

At first glance, the Traverser appeared to be a fairly normal-looking sports utility vehicle, tall and slightly boxy. Kotetsu, fully armoured in a suit that felt far lighter than his previous one, settled in the front passenger seat and looked around the interior with approval. There was a panel with muted green buttons, and Kotetsu itched to touch them all, but he'd been burned enough times in Saito's lab to be able to effectively quash that particular compulsion.

"Okay," Jesse said as he settled behind the wheel. "Ready?"

"Always!" Kotetsu eyed Jesse's metallic fingers as they pressed a series of buttons on the panel; never knew when he'd need to remember combinations.

The Traverser fired up, and then a calm voice said from over their heads, "Hello, Jesse Ironsoul. Hello, Wild Tiger."

"Hey, Traverser. I see Saito's already updated your database," Jesse said, grinning. "How late are we, anyway?"

A map flickered in front of them, projected just in front of the windscreen. "Not very late, Jesse."

The map faded slightly, and a tiny image appeared in the upper right-hand corner, displaying Hero TV. A fancy points-board faded in now and again with different team names and rankings. Kotetsu tried to hide a smile at the line at the very top which indicated: _Team Wild Tiger; Captain: Barnaby Brooks, Jr._ His smile spilled out despite all his efforts at seeing _RepliCat_ listed below, with _Jesse Ironsoul_ completing the team-list.

As Jesse drove the vehicle out of the underground parking, and up onto a main thoroughfare which ran right past the Justice Building, Kotetsu stared at the sheer quantity of individual battles being displayed on the tiny screen. Explosions filled the sky like a fireworks display.

"What the _hell_."

"Simple escalation," Jesse explained, whipping through the light traffic at high speeds. "Before you left, a hero-pair was pretty much the most effective thing in the city. Criminals figured that the bigger their offensive, in terms of groups, the better the chances of them getting away with crimes. That's how the Justice Bureau had to counteract with teams. Hold on."

A large hook shot out of the Traverser's right side, presumably out of a hidden panel. It grappled onto a light-post on the nearest intersection, and Jesse took an extremely hard left, using the rope attached to the hook to provide stability without slowing down. The Traverser swung around in a large arc and...on only two wheels.

Kotetsu was yelling with delight through the entire move.

He wasn't laughing when they got to an off-ramp where Silver Stage connected to Bronze, and he spotted his daughter toe-to-toe with an individual about twice her height, and four times her width. This person swung at her with a meaty fist, missed, and then punched the ground with a roar. Kaede floated up in the air as grassy areas, pavement and road ruptured underneath her, and Kotetsu fought not to scramble for the handle of his door. She was a Hero. She could handle herself.

Jesse brought the vehicle to a teeth-jarring halt and pushed his door open, about to dash out. The sounds which came from the open door were almost deafening. Jesse paused and threw a quick look over his shoulder at Kotetsu, who was trying to appear as if he wasn't going to do anything stupid (while all the while plotting to do as much as he could. Nothing stupid, though. _Awesome_ things.)

"Hey," Jesse said, suspiciously. "Look, what....what are you going to do?"

Kotetsu thought for a moment. "Stay alive?"

"Stay alive," Jesse repeated, and then nodded quickly. "I can get with that. Stay in the Traverser, and stay alive."

"No problem," Kotetsu called out and squinted as Jesse darted out, slamming the door. "Noooo problem."

+

In hindsight, maybe he should have stayed in the Traverser.

+

The Justice Bureau had some pretty comfy couches; that was a good thing, for Kotetsu ached all over. His new suit was in pieces that had left Saito close to tears, and the clothing he wore underneath was scorched in numerous places; parts of his beard were singed off almost completely. His domino-mask was still in one piece, thankfully, but it felt gritty against his skin, and smelled horribly charred.

The Boom Brothers were a set of about eight or nine closely related individuals (quite a misleading title, since they were mostly cousins and mostly female, as Kotetsu found when he actually took the time to peruse the memory of his suit); they took the _Boom_ in their name quite seriously. All of them had some NEXT ability with concussive force, whether by sonic blasts, the rapid production of actual bombs or balls of energy, or simply causing things to blow up through touch. Kotetsu had been stretched to keep up with the rest of the Heroes.

His Hundred Power had run out a little after he'd been racing along a steel I-beam near the top of a building in the middle of construction. How he got there, he had no idea, but there had been one Boom Brother behind him, throwing the tennis-ball sized bombs of energy at him that had wrecked his suit. He skipped around the beam as one bomb struck an area in front of him, reducing the steel to dripping slag, and flailed as another blast took out a section behind him. He hurtled down past thirteen unfinished floors within seconds, the ground looming ominously; he totally had plans to break gravity's hold on him by twisting in the air, grabbing onto a guide wire, spinning around it to gather momentum and then sail through the air to land on his feet. However, time, his greatest nemesis, ran out on him. Gravity, his _other_ greatest nemesis, continued to do its nefarious duty.

Kaede caught him just before he hit the ground. That was, to him at least, on par for the course.

Now, he sat in the brightly lit offices of the Justice Bureau, watching Barnaby getting scolded for his sake. Apparently, captains took the brunt of the blame for _everything_ nowadays, even if the escape of four of the Boom Brothers was directly the result of Kotetsu's dramatic clumsiness; Kaede had already left, giving Kotetsu a hug that felt more exasperated than fond, before departing with Ivan. Kotetsu thought he should be more concerned about the Ivan-and-his-daughter thing, but right now all he could do was stare anxiously at Barnaby's blank expression.

Kotetsu didn't know if it was a strategic thing or not, but he had been placed in an outer room, like a child being given time-out. The walls of the meeting room were mostly glass, and Barnaby sat at the end of a long table, facing Kotetsu's direction. A surprisingly small group of soberly-dressed individuals populated the other seats. Now and again, one of them would look at Kotetsu and frown. Kotetsu made sure to frown back.

What he really wanted to do was run in there and yell at them all. Barnaby was awesome, a natural leader. A _great_ captain! He'd seen the way Barnaby had coordinated everyone's movements, even those who weren't on his team. Kotetsu just didn't...well, he hadn't gotten any instructions, so he just did what he wanted and got in the way. It wasn't Barnaby's fault that he didn't fit in... _properly_. Or not at all.

He suddenly wanted Barnaby's focus on him, to look in his direction so that he could smile and maybe communicate _somehow_ that he was sorry, he'd do better. Yeah, so maybe he wasn't so hot on the whole team thing, but if it meant being with Barnaby, he'd learn, and fast. If this was how the world went, then Wild Tiger went with it, all the way. One hundred and fifty-two percent.

Just give him a chance. All a Tiger needed was a chance, really.

He let out a silently heavy sigh, for Barnaby was now shaking his head at whatever the Justice Bureau was telling him, one hand making sharp motions in the air, still not looking in Kotetsu's direction. He stifled a startled squawk when Jesse muttered in his ear, "Tough day, Wild Tiger?"

"Yeah," Kotetsu managed after a few beats, waiting for Jesse to take a seat beside him. He dredged up a smile from somewhere near his ankles. "I've had worse. Can't quite remember, but I've had them."

"I bet." Jesse settled even more into the couch, wriggling his way into a comfortable position. For a long moment, they both gazed at the opposite wall, a deep orange shade that was oddly comforting.

"I grew up in the house beside the Brooks' estate," Jesse said, quite casually. Kotetsu frowned a little, turning his head to look at Jesse. "As a matter of fact, Brooks and I went to the same private schools, had the same fencing instructor...we even played on the same polo teams. He used to cheat with his NEXT powers, you know."

"Rich kids, then," Kotetsu surmised, before attempting to tease: "Had a whole floor of the mansion to yourself?"

"Shared the eastern wing with my brothers," Jesse answered with a wry grin, but Kotetsu wasn't sure if he was joking or not. "When Brooks got into the Hero Academy, it was kind of a little joke in our circles."

"Really?!" Kotetsu knew his face was probably scrunched up in what Ben used to refer as his What-The-Face, but he couldn't help it. "Why would that be a joke?"

Jesse shrugged. "In my family at least, you help people, yeah, but you give to charities. Establish foundations. Donate clothes. Things like that. Directly and obviously _affecting_ people is not exactly _done._ "

"Well." Kotetsu thought deeply and then nodded. "At least it's helping, in your own way."

Jesse threw him a look that seemed fond. "I awakened pretty late in life," he said. "I was...twenty-five? Maybe twenty-six. But I didn't want to use my NEXT ability to help people. Didn't _care_."

He fell silent for a long moment. Kotetsu, burning to hear more, tried to keep quiet and utterly failed.

"What changed your mind?!"

"Brooks did. He came to my house, told me I was wasting my powers and offered to train me for his team." Jesse laughed a little. "You know, he even showed me a few Hero video-files, as inspiration."

"Mr. Legend," Kotetsu declared with a species of smug confidence. "He'd inspire _anybody_ \--"

"Oh no," Jesse said, "he showed me _you_."

For possibly the seventh time in his entire strange life, Kotetsu was completely speechless. Jesse took one look at his face and burst out into laughter, the corners of his eyes crinkling.

"The Brooks I knew as a child wasn't the same person that dragged me into the hero business eight years ago. I don't know what the hell you did," and here, he reached over and touched Kotetsu's wrist briefly, "but it was good. It still is."

Kotetsu nodded and then grinned. "Well, thanks. Thanks, that...it means a lot. Really." He cleared his throat and mumbled, "And, uh. You and Barnaby? How'd that happen?"

Jesse burst into laughter again. He seemed to do that a lot. "You can't see why he'd think it was a good idea to hook up with me?"

"No, that's not it, I do!" Kotetsu flapped his hands around, thinking that his damned big mouth had gotten him into trouble again, even if Jesse _was_ chuckling. "No, you're great. Honest!"

"Glad you think so. I don't know how it happened between us. We're better off as friends."

"Tiger," Barnaby's cool voice came from the open door of the meeting hall. "If you're done _conversing_ , we're free to go."

Kotetsu leaped off the couch as if he'd been sitting in Jesse's lap, and stumbled around for a moment, before righting himself and standing rigidly in front of Barnaby, who blinked at him in a fairly nonplussed fashion. The members of the Justice Bureau remained in the meeting-room, bestowing unimpressed stares in Kotetsu's direction. Barnaby shook his head and strode off down the corridor.

"Jesse," Barnaby threw over his shoulder as a curt farewell. The line of his shoulders appeared to be held quite rigidly.

"Captain," Jesse returned with good humour. "I'll see you around, Wild Tiger."

Kotetsu bid Jesse a hasty adieu and scattered after Barnaby, who said nothing else as they went down the elevator to the underground parking area and climbed into the Traverser.

"Traverser, Autopilot mode. Set tint for the windows to eighty-seven percent," Barnaby said, finally breaking the heavy silence with barely a murmur as he turned the key and started the engine. "Navigate to Kaede's house."

"Autopilot activated, chromatic levels established," the vehicle acknowledged as it pulled out of the parking-space by itself. "Estimated time to Kaede's house: forty-five minutes in current traffic conditions."

"I'll call Kaede," Kotetsu said to no-one in particular, glancing over at Barnaby as he fiddled with his communicator. Barnaby had shut his eyes, and had reclined his chair, head lolled back against the chair's cushioned head-rest.

"She's by Ivan's," Barnaby said when Kotetsu only got Kaede's perky voice on her message-service. "I suppose you know by now that they're together. She spends a lot of nights at his place."

"I'll just have to kill Ivan tomorrow, then," Kotetsu said, only half-jokingly, but Barnaby didn't laugh.

Instead he said, "I told the Justice Bureau that I'd step down as a Hero if you weren't reinstated."

Kotetsu sputtered wildly before exclaiming, "Are you _crazy_?! Don't do that, not for me! Didn't you tell them I went out there after you said I shouldn't?"

"Not the point," Barnaby countered, eyes still stubbornly closed. "And in any case, I should have known you would do that, Kotetsu." His lips curled up in a small smile. "You never listen to me."

"But I should have," Kotetsu said, earnestly. "You're the captain now, and that's important!"

"It doesn't matter," Barnaby sighed. His eyes flew open as Kotetsu leaned over him, gripping him by the shoulders and shaking him roughly. "What the--"

"I've been gone for ten years," Kotetsu said. "Ten years. Just a few days to me, okay, okay, but what you've done in that time, Bunny! You've taken care of my daughter, and kept on being a Hero when everyone else moved on. I'm not going to let you give up all of that just because I didn't know how to fit back in."

"You shouldn't _have_ to fit back in," Barnaby said, and smiled up at him. "You're Wild Tiger. I lost you years ago and, somehow, you've found me again. I'm not going to let some shitty Bureau take away what you love. Not now, not _ever_."

"Oi, Bunny," Kotetsu whispered, giddy with _all_ the feelings, and he had no name for a single one, "you said _shitty_." He found that his hands had migrated up, cupping Barnaby's jaw loosely. Barnaby's gaze was very intent, his skin warm against Kotetsu's palms.

"Are you going to kiss me?" Barnaby asked, with grave calm. "Because I'd thought about kissing you for a long time. Even before that that date we never had."

Kotetsu, who had been leaning awkwardly, paused with his eyes wide open. "Really?! Our _real_ date, you mean. By the way, are partners allowed to date? Wait, wait. You're my captain now, or you're _going_ to be my captain, 'cause I won't be on any other team as long as there's a _Team Wild Tiger_! Right, so are captains allowed to date team-members like that?"

"Kotetsu," Barnaby said, rolling his eyes. "Just shut up."

+

In hindsight, making out in the Traverser wasn't the best of ideas.

Kotetsu managed to press a very particular series of buttons with his ankle as he was trying to squirm even closer to Barnaby, savouring his mouth and tasting his soft moans, all while trying to get Bunny's hand down the front of his trousers. This series of buttons set off, in order: the flotation system, puffing up around the vehicle like the petals of a massive, yellow flower; four tracking darts that had to be retrieved by a very disgruntled Saito a few days later; the parachutes, all six of them; and the grappling hook.

"It's a lucky thing you didn't happen on the passcode for the guided missiles," Saito would grumble. "That would have been _bad_."

It wasn't the best of ideas....but it really wasn't the worst.

+

_Epilogue_

  
_It's dark in here. Wherever here is. There's...nothing. At least she can breathe. She's been here for a long time, and it's safe. No one can hurt her here. Out there, she'd been in trouble and she'd been afraid._

_...sometimes, though, she wishes the man in the green-and-silver metal suit would come back. She thinks she may have hurt him. She's not sure. In any case, he didn't seem afraid of anything. He'd tried to help her._

_It's so dark that she can feel it pressing, but it's not frightening. It's comfortable. It is all without form, and yet...she thinks she can hear voices. She hears voices all the time, talking about_ stasis _and_ temporal NEXT ability _but there's a voice that's new and familiar and it seems bolder than the rest._

_A green-and-silver kind of voice._

__Hey! _this voice says, bright and clear,_ Hey Lana! I'm back, see? I came to visit you! You didn't hurt me, but I forgive you anyway. Wasn't your fault. Hey, this is Barnaby. He's my captain! And, uh. Other things but that's for later. And this is my daughter. She's so pretty, isn't she? Like you. Also, she can kick ass. Just so you know.

Wanna wake up, Lana? I think you'll be okay. Okay?

_She smiles. A pinprick of light grows in front of her eyes, and it is beautiful, like a star. She reaches out and strokes it, takes a deep breath and goes through_.

_fin_

**Author's Note:**

> Here's the fic Nessa wrote for our exchange: [The Stroke of Immanent Blues - Tiger and Bunny K/B I/K (R)](http://winnettfics.livejournal.com/85006.html).


End file.
